


Pharos of My Soul: Dragon Tales

by pengiesama



Series: Dragon Bride AU (Pharos of My Soul) [2]
Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Dogs, Dragons, Fluff, Gen, Humor, M/M, Xenophilia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 14:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15820686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pengiesama/pseuds/pengiesama
Summary: Tales of a man-eating dragon, a prince, and their growing family.A collection of shorts fromPharos of My Soul/ Dragon Bride AU.





	Pharos of My Soul: Dragon Tales

**Author's Note:**

> And you thought I was done.
> 
> Check out the DragonBrideAU collection tag to see Ali's version of this AU!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mikleo squares off against a hoard of slavering Beasts that invade his peaceful home.

\--

 

Mikleo had defended this island for centuries. What the befuddling mist did not keep out, Mikleo was sure to drive off with tooth and claw. It was the only home he had ever known; the resting place of his mother’s bones. He knew every inch of the sandy shore, every winding path through the mountain caves – he had paced them, years without end, lost in a book he was struggling to read, lost in thoughts, lost in idle loneliness. Now, it was all that and so much more – it was a place of precious memories, and a bower for his pups.

But after hundreds of years of tireless duty, Mikleo had a fatal lack of judgement. No, it wasn’t in the doing of capturing Sorey from his home, it wasn’t in the doing of – doing Sorey, it wasn’t in the duty of allowing him to stay, or allowing him to return.

Beasts had invaded their home, and Mikleo was powerless to stop them.

“Mikleo…”

Mikleo stayed, stiff and unmoving, crouched over his pups. He could feel them trembling underneath his belly, hidden by his feathers; their soft whimpers piercing his heart with guilt. He would protect them. He would keep them safe. But he was terrified as well; terrified of the Beast, terrified for his children, terrified for Sorey.

Sorey took a slow, careful step forward, and placed one of the Beasts down in front of them.

“Mikleo. This is Elize.”

The tiny Pomeranian puppy blinked at her surroundings. She clearly wasn’t able to see terribly well over the purple plushie held gently but firmly in her wee jaws, especially considering it was almost as big as she was. All the same, she did not seem interested in putting it down any time soon. Sorey stroked a hand over Elize’s pale golden fuzzball fluff to try and smooth it out a bit, then scratched the top of her head with a single finger. Elize made a tiny peep, and raised herself up onto wobbly hind legs in an attempt to chase the feeling of Sorey’s petting hand. Her front paws swam in the air for a moment before she toppled over with an audible _puff!_ to the ground.

It was in Sorey’s nature, Mikleo suspected, to try and befriend things that could kill him in a matter of seconds. That was how this whole – this whole _everything_ started, after all. Sorey staying here, Sorey making himself a precious and irreplaceable part of Mikleo’s life. Mikleo had thought Sorey’s parents could be trusted – they were odd, just as Sorey himself was odd, but upon their second visit to the island they had brought these _Beasts_ , claiming them to be playmates for the pups. _Playmates_. The idea that they considered those dangerous creatures proper _playmates_ for his sweet children was insult enough, even if the horror of their very presence had not gripped him from the start. The moment the Beasts had poured off the ship, snapping and snarling and howling, Mikleo had gathered up his pups and fled in a flurry of feathers to a secluded outcropping at the mountain’s top. And there they had stayed for the past few hours, and there he intended to remain until those humans contained the horror they had unleashed on his home.

His husband’s behavior today was – indecipherable. Instead of demanding that his parents rein in their Beasts and remove them from the island, Sorey had climbed up to their stronghold almost immediately; to plead his parents’ case, to claim that the creatures were harmless. He had even brought one with him – a Beast with a coat as black as the maw of an open throat. It was dressed in a little outfit and Sorey called it “Jude”, and asked the Beast to do a few tricks. It could rise up onto its back legs and do a tiny dance, and could offer its paw in some sort of perversion of human social niceties. Mikleo dared not move an inch, dared not allow this creature a step closer to his children.

Eventually, Sorey shook his head, gathered the Beast, and carried it back down to the beach. Mikleo thought that he’d finally gotten his point across – he’d give Sorey a piece of his mind once those Beasts were gone, and Sorey would find himself not welcome to sleep in their nest for a few days, but as long as he did his part in atoning for his lapse in judgement, Mikleo could find it in his heart to forgive him…

Or at least he thought he could, until Sorey brought up another Beast. And then another. And another.

This Beast that Sorey had brought up was smaller than the rest, this much was true. Mikleo was fairly sure that he could best it in single combat, if it decided to make its move. Even if he had little chance of escaping without grave injuries, he had little choice in the matter – he would place his life on the line to save his pups, and would give his everything to ensure Sorey’s safety, even if he had endangered himself through his naiveté and innocence. For in truth, that was just one more thing that Mikleo loved about him – one more thing that he wanted to protect, always. The Beast had finally wriggled to its feet, with effort, and stared at Mikleo with its terrifying predatory gaze. Mikleo fluffed up the crest around his neck and head, raised his hackles; tried to make himself look as menacing as possible, even as he tried to control the shaking of his limbs.

He was a dragon. He was an unstoppable force of nature, as swift on land as he was in air, and deadlier still when underneath the waves. He was the protector of this island and the surrounding seas; ruler of the misted isles. He was the father of these innocent pups, the husband of that – that frustratingly simple man, and he would no longer cower in a corner. He would stand tall, and face this battle with courage.

He could not control the undignified squawk of terror as one of the other invading Beasts barreled into the cave; breaching their last bastion of safety. It was fast as lightning, darting in and out of the shafts of light filtering through the cave openings. Mikleo saw the flash of its teeth, the glint of its awful claws. The Beast pounced, lunged –

Sorey groaned. “Oh, Milla, honestly…you act like mom doesn’t feed you.”

Milla looked over her shoulder at Sorey as she munched on the bug she had been chasing. The green iridescent shine of the insect’s body and the half-buzzing wing still hanging out of her mouth identified it as one of the species of dragonflies that lived on the isle. This particular species were terrible pests, and aggressively swarmed the island’s shaded pools during their breeding season; crowding out the less loathsome breeds of dragonflies, and multiplying so quickly during their peak that the fish and birds that fed on them couldn’t keep up. When walking by the water at night, it was all one could do to avoid getting stung, and their swooping and buzzing spooked the pups so. This one’s demise, as gruesome as it was, was hardly a loss. Milla held her fluffy tail up high and proud over her haunches, and gave it a cheerful little wag as she swallowed down her prey. She shook out her coat, then pressed her snout to the ground; snuffling about to see if she had missed any bits and pieces of her mid-morning snack.

“Just please, don’t puke that up in the boat on the way back,” Sorey asked her, as if the Beasts could understand anything but the language of violence and terror. He had picked up Elize again, and she was perched in the crook of his arm. She blinked her eyes, slowly, as if she was about to fall asleep. “And don’t try to eat it again afterwards.”

The Beast known as Milla yipped, and trotted out of the cave; her body language easy and confident, as if she already knew the caves like the back of her paw. Mikleo bristled at the very idea – in offense, and in horror. If the invaders had already mapped out the cave system, what hope did they have?

Mikleo was too busy fretting to feel Aster squirming out from under his belly, too distracted to see him poke his head out from underneath his feathers, watching the scene before them. Aster was a shy, quiet boy; cautious, and not prone to the recklessness of his sisters. But what Mikleo failed to recall was that Aster was still his parents’ child, and thus, was possessed of an insatiable curiosity. Had Mikleo remembered this fact, even in such a stressful time, perhaps Mikleo would have kept a closer eye on him – or at least, a more firm seat on him.

Mikleo let out a panicked, desperate cry as he saw Aster dart out, out of the corner of his eye – his claws gripped at air as he tried to reach out and snag him back. He was too small, too quick, too determined to see the new “friend” that his papa was promising him. Sorey smiled as he saw his son approach, and knelt to the ground to put the Beast in his arms at eye level with Aster.

“There we go, that’s my brave little boy. Say hi to Elize.”

Mikleo was absolutely certain that he was about to see his precious baby boy eaten alive. Little Aster, who he’d had to coax out of his egg; gently calling to him to encourage him to break out. Little Aster, who loved nothing more than being held and read to, who always let Mikleo groom him without complaint (or kicking), who always needed his papa’s lullabies to fall asleep after a nightmare. He had to move quickly, before the Beast struck – but if he moved, he would leave his daughters unprotected, and the Beasts had already proven that they knew the caves. What if more were lying in wait, biding their time until they could descend and make off with his sweet little babes? He was gripped by this agonizing, impossible decision.

Aster rose up on his hind legs, and drew in his arms politely as he gave Elize a delicate sniff. Elize squirmed, whimpered, and began to tremble. Sorey made a soothing noise, and stroked his hand over her fluff once more.

“Aster’s just a little baby like you, Elize. No need to be scared.”

He couldn’t imagine what Aster had smelled on the creature, but it made Aster twitch his tail, fluff his coat, and let out a joyful (and loud) squawk. The noise made the Beast yelp, and its panicked thrashing caused Sorey to lose his grip. It fell to the ground, and fled out the cave entrance; its nails scrabbling for purchase on the rock as it went. Aster seemed to deflate at the departure of the creature, but Mikleo could not have been more proud of him. He wanted to weep in relief. His precious, brave baby boy. He had stared death in the face, squawked at it, and saved them all.

Sorey darted after the creature, and yelled over his shoulder as he went:

“Sorry, just – she’s too little to run around on her own! I’ll be back in a minute, stay here.”

As long as Sorey was finishing the job of driving the creature out of their home, Mikleo was willing to be ordered around. He was just…too relieved. He found himself transforming into his smaller form, and bundled Aster into his arms; nuzzling and cooing to him. It was unlike Aster to turn down cuddles – Sorey liked to call him a “love bug” for it. Strangely, though, Aster was having none of his father’s affections today. He squirmed and wriggled until Mikleo put him down, and sat almost sullenly as his sisters closed in on him; sniffing at him suspiciously, as if they weren’t sure he was still alive after that encounter.

Mikleo made a questioning noise, and Aster turned his gaze to him, his eyes soulful and sad.

“ _Papa said she was a little baby. I scared her._ ”

Mikleo was baffled. “ _That’s…Aster, it was dangerous. It’s good you scared it off._ ”

“ _Didja see how the one ate that big nasty bug whole?_ ” Anemone whispered in clear awe.

“ _I liked the first one’s dance_ ,” said Allium, before she briefly, and shakily, tried to imitate it on her own hind legs. “ _And his jacket_. _I bet Grandma made it, just like the clothes she makes for us._ ”

His children clearly did not understand the gravity of the situation. But they were innocent, just like Sorey. Mikleo gathered the three of them up – two under one arm, one under the other, and carted them through the cave and up to the nest room. It wasn’t easy, and wasn’t entirely quick. They were growing bigger every day, it seemed – soon he wouldn’t be able to do this, and so, he indulged himself whenever he could.

“ _Can we play with those things when papa comes back?_ ” asked Anemone. “ _Please?_ ”

“ _You were scared of them_ ,” Allium accused. “ _Just like daddy.”_

_“Was not! And you were too!”_

_“Yes you were! You were crying like a little baby and all puffed up—”_

Mikleo made a warning noise, and the girls quieted down. Aster still stared at him; stared at him with those eyes, so hopeful and sweet, so much like Sorey’s.

“ _I’m going to go find your father,”_ Mikleo said. “ _The three of you are going to stay in the nest, and not move until I get back. Or else no bedtime stories for a week.”_

Mikleo knew his children – and more than that, he knew their parents. As insurance against the inevitable escape, he murmured a spell at the nest room’s entrance; activating the protective charms there, creating a barrier that kept things in place – nothing out, and nothing in. He felt the magic thrum in his veins. It was a spell that drew from his own life-force, and would stay in place until he dispelled it or died. Whichever came first.

Mikleo could remember that awful day, so long ago: when he cowered under his mother as that human stalked their home, when she had hidden him away in a secluded spot (too far away from their nest to make a break for it) and told him not to move until she came to get him. He’d waited hours for her to come back; too scared to move, too scared to make a sound.

Hours became days. He was hungry, and terrified, and desperate for his mother to return…but she never did. When he finally gathered the courage and desperation, he crept out of hiding to search for her. And find her he did – most of her.

Sometimes he idly wondered what would have become of him if Lailah hadn’t decided to come calling that day, if she had been less willing to care for him. If, when she saw him slowly digging a grave, she had simply turned around and left. But, she didn’t. She stayed, and comforted him, and raised him. He was forever in her debt.

Now that Mikleo had…given himself some time to think, perhaps his children had a point. Perhaps he could grant that these Beasts were not deadly threats – certainly not as deadly as the human that had taken his mother away from him, at least. But what he _could_ say about them was that they were loud, and messy, and were traipsing all over _his_ island as if they owned the place. Now that he was confident that he did not have to fear never returning to his little ones in the nursery, he could march himself back down to…wherever his in-laws were lurking around, and tell them firmly to gather the Beasts and leave. But he supposed that would be easier said than done. Mikleo had read books on marriage that emphasized the importance of boundaries with in-laws, but there was also the matter of respect, and marital harmony, and…

A dragon’s senses were sharp; far sharper than a human’s. Moreover, the cave system was like a sprawling spider’s web – it carried sound and vibration from all over the island. He could detect Sorey’s heavy footsteps toward the northern end of the system, and could confidently state that he was nowhere near where that one Beast – “Elize” – had run off to. And as for Elize…he could hear faint, frantic little whimpers, and the scratching of claws on stone.

Mikleo hesitated. They were frightful little Beasts, and messy, and annoying. But those whimpers were so plaintive, and so like those of his own pups that he found himself drawn in to them, driven by parental instinct.

It was no trouble navigating the cave system to find her. Mikleo watched, cautiously, hidden behind an outcropping. The Beast was scratching frantically at a crack at the intersection of wall and floor, and whimpering as she did. The purple stuffed toy that she had previously held in her jaws was absent; and, perhaps due to its absence, the Beast appeared to be quite distressed. Mikleo felt that it was a safe assumption that, in the process of fleeing from Aster and Sorey’s pursuit, the Beast had skidded into this room and lost her grip on her toy, sending it tumbling into the crack in the stone that she was now clawing at.

The Beast, engrossed in her mission to save her toy, did not seem to notice Mikleo’s slow, cautious approach. It was not until he was standing over her that she noticed his shadow. She froze in place, and then, began to tremble once more.

The stuffed toy had not fallen too far into the crack – it was beyond the reach of a Beast, perhaps, but Mikleo had thumbs in his current form. It was a small and painless task to retrieve it. He placed it on the ground in front of the Beast, and watched as she carefully, gently picked it back up.

She had stopped trembling, and stopped whimpering. Those eyes of hers were just like Aster’s and Sorey’s.

…There was no more time to focus on this. He needed to discuss things with Sorey’s family, now. Mikleo rose out of his crouch, and continued on his way down to the nearest exit. He heard the _tip-tip-tap_ of Elize’s claws on the stone floor; following him as he went. He sighed, and bent down again. If it was as Sorey indicated, and she was no older than the pups, she surely was already exhausted from running blindly through the caves. She was quite light, at least – certainly lighter than his children were now.

In no time at all, they emerged into the afternoon sun. Mikleo squinted and looked around, until he spotted—

“Mikleo! You found her!”

Sorey jogged up, with his mother Selene not far behind. Selene tearfully held out her arms, and Mikleo – perhaps more hesitantly than he expected of himself – handed her Elize.

“Thank you,” she said. “Oh, goodness, Elize, you gave me quite a scare…”

Mikleo looked at Sorey, expectantly. Sorey scratched at his head.

“We’re…rounding up the rest. It probably wasn’t a good idea to bring everyone at once.”

“No,” Mikleo said. “No, it was not.”

Sorey gave him those Eyes, and Mikleo looked away with a huff before he was drawn in.

“So? The rest of them?”

“We’ve got most everyone rounded up,” Sorey said, gesturing behind him. There was a little yellow Beast barking repeatedly at a fish in a pool, a gray-muzzled Beast sunning itself on a rock, and a reddish-black Beast gazing dramatically into the horizon; perched on a rock, backed by a waterfall. “I sent Jude off to look for Milla, and dad went off to look for…”

Mikleo felt the brush of something on his leg, and jumped a mile. It was the doing of a new Beast, who appeared to be undeterred by Mikleo’s rejection, or his scream of terror. It closed in and tried rubbing on his legs again; giving him what could only be described as…an extremely fake and off-putting attempt at puppy eyes. Sorey sighed and grabbed the Beast before it could dart away into the brush.

“That’s Alvin. We’ve been chasing him all over the island. Don’t let his act fool you; he just doesn’t want us to put his leash on him.”

Selene tsked and shifted to hold Alvin under her other arm. “You naughty thing, always running off to cause mischief. It’s time for the harness of penitence again…”

She ignored Alvin’s mournful howl, and carried him and Elize off to the pool to be supervised. Sorey offered his arms to Mikleo, and Mikleo decided he would grant it. Sorey’s arms were so strong, and held him so tightly. He tucked his face against Sorey’s chest, against the warm skin revealed by his open shirt, and sighed.

“Are you doing okay?” Sorey asked quietly. “You seemed…really rattled up there.”

“It’s fine,” Mikleo whispered. “I’ll talk about it later, maybe. Once these creatures are rounded up and _off_ the island.”

Sorey kissed his head, right at the base of his horns, and Mikleo couldn’t help but purr. Sorey was all too aware of his weak spots: kisses to his horns, kisses to the scales at the nape of his neck, stroking fingers through his feathers, ticklish touches to his ribs and sides. Sorey himself, in general. It really was hard to stay upset with him, even when he brought chaos in his wake.

They were interrupted, then – politely interrupted, but still interrupted. The Beast known as Jude was shifting back and forth, stretching out his paw and trying to get Sorey’s attention without spooking Mikleo by barking. Once he had gotten their attention, Jude whimpered, spun in place, and trotted to point out the path through the brush and trees that he’d taken.

“Did you find Milla?” Sorey asked. “Come on, let’s go get her.”

Jude led them along, and they eventually emerged near an island pool – to a scene of utter destruction. The thing was, it was mostly destruction revolving around those nasty pest dragonflies. At this time of year, the air should have been thick with them…but the pool had apparently been cleansed of their reign of terror. Half-eaten dragonfly bodies littered the ground and water. The birds and fish were enjoying a feast, and the other insects that made the area their home – the butterflies, the bees, the colorful little beetles – were able to go about their day in peace. It was…idyllic, and Mikleo didn’t know what to think. (Except to be thankful that those fucking dragonflies were dead. He was sure to kick one of their corpses into the water for a fish to eat as they walked.)

Continuing to follow Jude, the trail of insect corpses slowed. Mikleo recognized the area as a prime spot to gather melons from the fruit trees, and recognized the carnage on the ground as the remains of many melons. Finally, they spotted their target: Milla, passed out in a half-eaten melon rind. Her tongue lolled almost completely out of her mouth, and she breathed slow and heavy. Her body was sluggish with bug meat and melon, and she barely reacted when Jude came up to her to lick at her face.

“Come on, Milla, let’s get you back to mom,” Sorey said soothingly. He bent down to pick her up. “Hey – hey! No more!”

Milla weakly tried to take another bite of the melon as Sorey tried to move her. Thwarted in her gourmet quest, Milla tried to howl to the heavens, but it came out as more of a fat gurgle. Jude picked up the half-eaten melon in his jaws, and brought it along with them as they travelled back to the waterfall where the rest of the Beasts awaited. Mikleo could respect his dutifulness.

Selene did not seem entirely surprised at the state that Milla was returned in, and graciously accepted the gift of slightly-eaten melon from Jude. Although the Beasts were now…under control, Mikleo was clearly quite through with having visitors for the day, and it was late in any case. While Georg set about carting the Beasts back to their main ship via rowboat, Selene stayed ashore. She bowed her head to Mikleo.

“I…I must apologize for the commotion today,” she said. “Please don’t blame Sorey. He told me that I should only bring one, maybe two of my pups for the grandchildren to play with. I thought I knew better, but I clearly didn’t.”

Mikleo gathered his thoughts before he responded.

“…It’s not that they’re unwelcome,” Mikleo explained. “Perhaps I wouldn’t mind them again. The children were interested in them. And the one’s appetite, you see, could be useful for a problem we’ve had for some time—”

As the saying goes, when one speaks of the devil, the devil is called to appear. A lone dragonfly, apparently seeking revenge, buzzed ominously towards them – more specifically, it was targeting Milla’s bloated, prone body on the sand. Jude stood in front of her, ready to defend her in her time of digestive need. The dragonfly was not impressed, and divebombed the both of them – stinger out, ready to give Jude the welt of a lifetime.

The reddish-black Beast, Gaius, walked in front of Jude with a dominating and absolute sort of confidence. He locked eyes with the dragonfly. The dragonfly skidded to complete stop, mere centimeters in front of Gaius’ unflinching muzzle, and – after a long, tense moment – dropped completely dead to the sand. Gaius snorted dismissively, then turned and kicked sand over its corpse with his hind legs. He then trotted to Selene, and permitted her to scoop him up for kissy-kissies.

Sorey and Mikleo bade their guests farewell, and retired to the nursery to free their own pups from confinement. The pups swirled around their legs, chittering at them in accusing tones – _you were playing with those fluffy things without us! –_ and were only soothed by the promise that yes, grandma and grandpa would be visiting again soon. Yes, you can sleep in the big nest with daddy and papa tonight. And yes, you can have an extra story before bed.

Mikleo couldn’t help but worry, sometimes. Old wounds seemed to rip open at the most inconvenient times. He brushed his lips over Sorey’s forehead, and leaned to put out the lantern. But Sorey’s arms were so warm, and his pups’ purring was so soothing. It grounded him in the present, and kept him in the moment – and kept him hopeful for their future, together.

 

\--

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ali's DB AU shorts: elegant. well-crafted. meaningful. effort was put in.
> 
> My DB AU shorts: what if a dog ate a bug


End file.
